Please help me understand and select chain and sprockets

[littleroot]

Paint the clip with bright paint (white) so you can easily see if it's missing & add a smear of silicone.

I use riveted & the same tool as Nardy above. To use the HF chain breaker you'd probably need to put something with a domed surface one side & a flat the other between the pin & the plunger. (You could easily make one out of a bolt or a piece of rod - I could sketch it if you like).

A lot of people use a punch with a rounded end & a hammer, striking onto a metal plate or the side of another large hammer.

Dumb question: I need to break the chain to get it off the bike, right? I remember the guy at the shop said he just uses a pneumatic cutting tool and I've been wanting to get one Harbor Freight?

 

[littleroot]

Harbor FreIght cutting tool LINK HERE for $10

 

[tkent02]

Any type of grinder will work.

Is your old chain/sprockets worn out?

 

[Joe Nardy]

Dumb question: I need to break the chain to get it off the bike, right? I remember the guy at the shop said he just uses a pneumatic cutting tool and I've been wanting to get one Harbor Freight?

Yes, you can cut through the side plates of one link to remove the chain. But since you have the fancy tool all you need to do is grind the head from one pin and use the tool to push the pin out, 'breaking' the chain.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[littleroot]

Any tip of grinder will work.

Is your old chain/sprockets worn out?

I've been told by a couple people who looked at in real life that the chain is shot and I should replace the two sprockets, too. The chain is too loose, as well, I've been told as along the bottom return run I can pull it down with my finger about two inches.

Here is a picture of where I am on the adjuster on the swingarm. The labeled indicators are obvious but I'm not exactly sure what the indicator at the axle is telling me: could I have five more steps to go?

 

[littleroot]

Any type of grinder will work.

Is your old chain/sprockets worn out?

I need to by a grinder, hand tool, pneumatic, I suppose

 

[tkent02]

Those pictures mean nothing. Show us a pic of both sprockets, where the chain is not covering them. Are the teeth bent or hooked? Are the teeth all shaped the same?

And, pull the chain away from the sprocket at the point at the top of this picture. How far will it come away?

And, the two inches you can pull the chain down is normal, any less is too tight. The important part is that as you rotate the chain around the sprockets by turning the wheel, the two inches remains the same, not tight in one place and loose in another. The slack should be uniform, all the way around.

As you rotate the wheel, is the chain silent or does it snap and crackle as it goes around?

One more thing, are all of the O rings in the chain intact or are some of them missing?

 

[littleroot]

Those pictures mean nothing. Show us a pic of both sprockets, where the chain is not covering them. Are the teeth bent or hooked? Are the teeth all shaped the same?

And, pull the chain away from the sprocket at the point at the top of this picture. How far will it come away?

And, the two inches you can pull the chain down is normal, any less is too tight. The important part is that as you rotate the chain around the sprockets by turning the wheel, the two inches remains the same, not tight in one place and loose in another. The slack should be uniform, all the way around.

As you rotate the wheel, is the chain silent or does it snap and crackle as it goes around?

OK, good info. I will maybe shoot a video of me playing with it. The picture was meant to show where I was on the adjuster and get an answer to how I should interpret these. Mike from Z1 said because it has been converted to 530 already you don't always go by these indicators.

 

[littleroot]

OK, good info. I will maybe shoot a video of me playing with it. The picture was meant to show where I was on the adjuster and get an answer to how I should interpret these. Mike from Z1 said because it has been converted to 530 already you don't always go by these indicators.

And there is no hooking, not at all. I think the sprocket look good but everyone says replace them when I do the chain if I expect to get 15K or more life

 

[tkent02]

Those indicators mean nothing anyway.

True they should be replaced as a set, but if there is no hooking you probably don't need to replace anything.

 

[littleroot]

Those indicators mean nothing anyway.

I figured they were for safety so I don't get the axle too far out on the swingarm. I'm guessing as long as the swingarm is covered by the nuts/washers I'm good.

 

[tkent02]

No you can bring it all the way out safely as long as the chain isn't too worn.

 

[littleroot]

Mike a Z1 just replied after seeing this photo and said "The graduations on the swingarm is the true working range, but somewhere in the middle is ideal for the designed wheelbase of the bike"

Good info

 

[Joe Nardy]

As Tom said, try pulling the chain straight back away from the rear sprocket. If you are able to easily pull the chain away it is likely both the chain and sprocket are bad. With a new chain and sprocket you will barely be able to pull the chain away from the sprocket.

Joe

 

[Guest]

I've been told by a couple people who looked at in real life that the chain is shot and I should replace the two sprockets, too. The chain is too loose, as well, I've been told as along the bottom return run I can pull it down with my finger about two inches.

Here is a picture of where I am on the adjuster on the swingarm. The labeled indicators are obvious but I'm not exactly sure what the indicator at the axle is telling me: could I have five more steps to go?

The labled indicators are for chain wear. Yours appears to be close to the middle from what I can see from your picture. The other marks are wheel alignment marks for your axle, they should match on both sides.

Do yourself a favor, go to BassCliffs site,
here's the link if you don't have it (at least keep it for future reference.)
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

Download the owners manual for the GS1100E.
http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS1100E_Owners_Manual.pdf

Go to the chain adjustment page on page 42 where it shows the recommended chain slack at .8in.
Now go to page 43 and heed the caution where it says, "Never allow the drive chain slack to exceed 2 inches"

Personally .8 inch seems a little tight for me, I usually go at least 1 inch or a little more. Too tight of a chain only stretches them out quicker.

Once you got your chain properly adjusted and lubed, rotate it and check for binding, or tightness then looseness through it's rotation. Check for frozen links also, those are ones that don't want to swivel.

You may just have a chain that needs only adjusting, but........ we can't see your sprockets. If your sprockets are worn, the chain will ride up on them which causes your tight and loose tension as the wheel rotates.

 

[littleroot]

The labled indicators are for chain wear. Yours appears to be close to the middle from what I can see from your picture. The other marks are wheel alignment marks for your axle, they should match on both sides.

Do yourself a favor, go to BassCliffs site,
here's the link if you don't have it (at least keep it for future reference.)
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

Download the owners manual for the GS1100E.
http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS1100E_Owners_Manual.pdf

Go to the chain adjustment page on page 42 where it shows the recommended chain slack at .8in.
Now go to page 43 and heed the caution where it says, "Never allow the drive chain slack to exceed 2 inches"

Personally .8 inch seems a little tight for me, I usually go at least 1 inch or a little more. Too tight of a chain only stretches them out quicker.

Once you got your chain properly adjusted and lubed, rotate it and check for binding, or tightness then looseness through it's rotation. Check for frozen links also, those are ones that don't want to swivel.

You may just have a chain that needs only adjusting, but........ we can't see your sprockets. If your sprockets are worn, the chain will ride up on them which causes your tight and loose tension as the wheel rotates.

Thanks, Steve. I did grab those from Bikecliff just have not had time to digest all and of course I like getting help from the great people here

 

[littleroot]

Sprockets and chain look OK to me

Sprockets and chain look OK to me

I gave the chain a good cleaning and it looks fine as far as I can tell. It cleaned up really nice and the sprockets look good, not even the slightest bit of hook. I am holding off any change for now. I just put new tires on her and all is good.

As for the adjustment I could pull the chain off the sprocket a bit and I fixed that. I was surprised that a little goes a long way: I moved it a full hash mark and that was too tight so I had to back it off a bit. Thanks everyone for your help.
-Bob

 

[Guest]

I gave the chain a good cleaning and it looks fine as far as I can tell. It cleaned up really nice and the sprockets look good, not even the slightest bit of hook. I am holding off any change for now. I just put new tires on her and all is good.

As for the adjustment I could pull the chain off the sprocket a bit and I fixed that. I was surprised that a little goes a long way: I moved it a full hash mark and that was too tight so I had to back it off a bit. Thanks everyone for your help.
-Bob

I love happy endings!
And it's so true, you don't have to adjust it much to take up alot of slack.
If you do err, err on the side of looseness rather than tightness.

 

[littleroot]

I love happy endings!
And it's so true, you don't have to adjust it much to take up alot of slack.
If you do err, err on the side of looseness rather than tightness.

Good to know. Will do, thanks again

 

[GateKeeper]

I gave the chain a good cleaning and it looks fine as far as I can tell. It cleaned up really nice and the sprockets look good, not even the slightest bit of hook. I am holding off any change for now. I just put new tires on her and all is good.

As for the adjustment I could pull the chain off the sprocket a bit and I fixed that. I was surprised that a little goes a long way: I moved it a full hash mark and that was too tight so I had to back it off a bit. Thanks everyone for your help.
-Bob

hopefully you used kerosene to clean up that chain....and after you cleaned it all up, you did oil/lube it back up right......

just making sure...

glad to hear it was useable, it can get pricey on just those 3 items...

.